good afternoon, everybody, i'm yasmin vossoughian. we've got a lot going on right now surrounding the election. 17 days to go and the two candidates pursuing very different campaign strategies in the homestretch. the president preparing right now to hit the road and put

thousands more people at risk in superspreader events in two separate states. you see air force one there. this as millions of votes have already been cast. we'll take you to one of the states seeing long lines. and we're watching marches led across the country by women. and consequences, the president's winking nod to qanon and other conspiracy and fears of election violence. but we want to begin with the president en route to one of two campaign rallies that he's holding tonight. the president is taking his re-election push to michigan and wisconsin as well. two states that he won back in 2016 but is now losing to joe biden in the polls. nbc's shannon pettypiece is joining us at the white house. and monica alba. shannon, i'm going to start with you today, the president is headed to wisconsin which has

seen a major spike in covid cases. >> reporter: right, i asked white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany today, who is just back after recovering from her own bout from covid-19, i asked her, is the white house doing anything additional to what they've been doing all along to try and get the cases under control in a lot of places seeing another wave. here's what she had to say. >> with the coronavirus cases versus some of these cases have you seen any change in what the white house is doing specifically to try to bring some of these cases down? >> so, we are routinely looking at covid numbers in respective states. dr. birx has traveled the country. she's aware when there are embers and fires and we address those as they come. we had a surge in testing but with the surge in testing, you'll identify more cases. we're certainly attune to a peak 0 are spike in cases in

respective states and our goal is to put that out as quickly as possible. >> reporter: so, really sticking with this same strategy we have been seeing from the white house for months now, one thing they have talked a lot about is accelerated tests, getting them out to more tests and nursing homes, but when you look at the rally, monica can tell you all about, there are no measures put in place since the president and about two dozen of his aides and associates were infected in recent weeks. there aren't really any changes in protocols at the white house with things going on. despite wall we're seeing across the country, in the white house, in the president's own rally, they continue to keep much of the same posture as over the summer. >> shannon, i've got to listen to kayleigh mcenany there, concerning the fact she had a bout with covid, first of all, i'm astounded that she's out they're not wearing a mask? was she asked about that.

secondly, we have seen videos from front line workers coming out of wisconsin in the last days, videos of front line workers in that state that are overwhelmed. hospitals are overwhelmed, considering how many patients having to check in with covid cases. >> reporter: right, that's one of the risks, the president takes in doing the rallying. it motivates his base, it gets him local medial coverage. it's a fund raraising drive. and it does put out messages to people like seniors who are disappointed with the president's handling of the coronavirus response that the president continues to take a cavalier approach to this virus. you mentioned kayleigh mcenany not wearing a mask. >> yeah. >> reporter: it was a quick conversation with her today. we didn't get a chance to ask her about that. a number of white house officials, we've seen, hope hicks, coming back on the campaign trail, having cleared

that time line, not wearing masks. >> oh, it's just shocking to me. sorry, really is. monica, i want to go to you on this one, you are in michigan for us ahead of the president's arrival for a rally this evening. talk us about the mood you're seeing. and what you're hearing from folks attending that rally is there any fears of spread of covid, this thing turning into a superspreader event? >> reporter: there doesn't appear to be, yasmin. i have to tell you this large crowd of trump supporters does not seem deterred by the possibility of the president of coronavirus. or by the weather here, with a lot of wind and rain in the next couple of hours expected here before the president lands and speaks before this crowd of up to potentially 10,000 people. that's what the local airport was preparing authorities for to handle. and it's so striking, when the president returned to the trail and started doing these rallies before his own illness, they did

try to put seats six feet apart. they attempted social distancing. they handed out masks. all of that has gone away. the masks are not at all required at these events. they are distributed, if people want to take them. but it's just not something that is being enforced. and you can see it clear behind me. for all of the people who maybe are wearing a mask, there isn't somebody who isn't. that really tells you all you need to know about the people coming to these rallies. this is the president's absolute most hard core ardent base, they will with him rain or shine. the big question is whether people will be able to turn out voters who don't come to events like this on the margins. in a state like he won so narrowly, if he doesn't make inroads with people not at rallies like this, it's difficult to see how he does. current polls show him trailing

significantly to former vice president joe biden all along the rust belt. >> i was going to say that was some interesting back music you had going on monica, props to you for keeping it go. senator david perdue from georgia is under fire for what see as the deliberate mispronunciation of the candidate's name. >> most insidious thing that chuck schumer and biden jobe and kamala -- kamala-ma la, la. i don't know. said senator perdue simply mispronounced senator harris' name and didn't mean anything by it. really? really? de deepa, no one is buying this, if

he had miss pronounced her name once, we would have bought it. at that point when he said kamala-mala-mala, we know he was making fun of her name. >> reporter: yeah, there's a lot to unpack there. but you saw that statement from senator perdue's communication person saying he didn't mean anything by it it wasn't deliberate. if you zoom out a little bit, yasmin, this is something that we've seen from president trump pretty consistently as well. he knows how to pronounce kamala harris' name, kamala, he says and then he'll call her kamala and mispronounce that deliberately as well. it's not something from senator perdue in georgia but the president it happening pretty consistently. kamala harris' campaign has tweeted and called that racist.

you're seeing folks on asian-american heritage, indian american heritage, where kamala harris' name comes from. sharing #what my name mean. and sharing that pride in heritage and culture. what you're seeing is a lot of blowback. from a financial standpoint, he said he raised $1 million since that happened last night. we're seeing immediate impact on his rhetoric from last night and whether or not that impacts the senate race is what we're looking out for. >> deepa, we're seeing the president's rallies with what's happening he's going full speed ahead as if there's no pandemic whatsoever. what do we have for biden's plan? >> that's a great question. you're seeing a lot of rapid momentum, yasmin, joe biden in detroit yesterday, traveling,

tomorrow, kamala harris who is taking a break from the trail because two people who tested positive for covid, she's back on the trail tomorrow in florida. she'll be in orlando and gainesville meeting voters there for the first day of early voting. you're going to see a lot of movement in the next 17 days trying to pick things up and encourage folks to the polls that's been consistent and we'll see that in the next days and weeks. >> nbc's deepa chevron in washington. so good to talk to you. marches pled by women under yea, including where deepa was, washington, d.c. thousands are protesting the nomination of amy coney barrett to the supreme court. corey coffman is in d.c. corey, good to talk to you this afternoon. take us through what you're hearing from folks there. >> reporter: yasmin, good afternoon. we have made it over here to the national mall, started a couple hours ago in the freedom plaza. tens of thousands of protesters, at least it would appear so as

they filled their way in. made their way to the supreme court. and they continued their protest. and now they're filling in here at the national mall as this event continues right behind me. and we'll give you a little look here. folks who have made it out this way are staying in groups on the lawn. you can also see in the distance, as we pan the camera over, there's actually some seats that have been set up. this is unique to this year in particular. they're distanced about six feet apart in the seats. people are going to continue to fill in that way. we'll give you a look at the speakers just ahead. something else that i thought was interesting, yasmin, throughout the walking route that we were on, those giant panels that you see up there, those video panels, those were placed throughout so that marchers could continue to hear that message. i spoke to some of the march organizers and some attendees. listen to what they told me. >> we know that this election is crucial. and that women around the country, we are going to change the direction. >> with everything going on and

so close to the election, especially with this push to replace ruth bader ginsburg, it's important that we stand up and say that we showed up when it counts, when it matters. we showed up every time it matters. i'm looking forward to not having to make the drive to d.c. all the time to show up for this, but i'm going to do it every time i need to. >> reporter: all right, so you hear them talking about what's at stake for them and how important this is. i asked why, this is obviously the second women's march this year, 2 1/2 weeks before the election and in the middle of a pandemic, and they told me, that is how important this is right now in 2020. not only is everyone wearing masks, by the way, yasmin. everybody that we've seen out here, wearing masks today but they're going to hold a textathon, because they understand that not everybody can come out here. normally there are hundreds of thousands out here for this. because of that, they're all sitting here, gathering together

until 5:00 p.m. eastern time to text to get people out to vote 2 1/2 weeks out before the election. yasmin. >> corey coffman in washington, thank you. we're going to dive into a new study that reveals how many women face retaliation when they report sexual harassment. and one woman's story of how she faced repercussions today. that is coming up in the 4:00 hour. with the crowds out in big numbers for early voting we are live with leigh ann caldwell in north carolina where voters are casting ballots right now. >> i wanted to make sure that we knew that our ballot would count. >> i believe in mail-in votes, but i wanted to make my vote would 100% be counted. and my colleague, richard lui, standing by in front of the big board there to break down the record early voting numbers. what the data tells us about the

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we're mejuri, the new luxury. handcrafted like the olden days. designed for the golden days ahead. all right. welcome back. with more than 22 million ballots cast ahead of november 3rd nationwide, no place may better represent voter urgency than north carolina. check out the long lines just this morning. this is at a polling place in durham. and that is how busy it was, even before the doors opened, bright and early, people showing up. wanting to get their votes in. so far 760,000 in the tar heel state have cast their ballot in person since early voting began just two days ago. take a look at that long lines across the country. i want to bring in nbc's leigh

ann caldwell in durham. leigh ann, good to talk to you. i've been seeing the lines since early voting began in this country. people lined up waiting hours and hours. talk us through what you've seen since this morning there, as we saw people line up early before the polls even opened. >> reporter: yeah, yasmin, north carolina is no different from what we've seen in other states around the country. these long lines. high voter enthusiasm. people are turning up to vote. right now, i'm at a location, a polling place in durham, north carolina. it's a party-like atmosphere. let me set the scene for you. you have a lot of progressive democratic activists and volunteers who are handing out sample ballots to voters. there's a deejay in the background. and way up behind me, you can see a line of cars who are coming in to do their driveby voting. and then here's the entrance. there's a small line at the moment. this is how the line's been for

much of the afternoon. there's been a steady trickle. i talked to the election judge here and she said that the same number of voters coming at this time today as there were in the past two days. you know, there's been record-setting numbers here. from what it sounds like, the intensity is the same in the numbers as well. we talked to a couple voters today, and here's what they said on why they decided to come in person to vote early. take a listen. did you consider voting by mail? >> we did, actually -- well, i did. >> no, i didn't. >> i decided not to do it by mail because i was fearful of exactly how the process -- i've been hearing a lot of things. i just wanted to make sure that my ballot was sent in. >> reporter: what about you? >> no, i didn't even consider. i didn't want to take that chance. you know, you hear a lot of things on the news, the ballots, it's not getting where it's supposed to be. >> reporter: yes.

that is the message that i heard from so many voters over the past two days. yasmin, the fact that they didn't trust the mail system enough to actually vote by mail. and you can see that in the numbers. early voting by mail started in north carolina september 4th. the first state in the country. about 550,000 people have submitted their absentee ballots by mail. but just 2 1/2 days of in-person early voting, that number is 750,000 who have cast ballots. >> wow. >> reporter: and it's not just enthusiasm because they want to cast ballots. this is a battleground state that could determine the white house, yasmin. >> a little beyonce in the background getting those people riled up to get in there and vote. leigh ann, just quickly -- >> reporter: i was hoping you could hear that. >> of course, i could hear beyonce, hello. the woman who said she was worried about the voting process

and what she was hearing in the news. did she necessarily share with you who she was voting for? >> reporter: she was voting for joe biden. both of those women were. we're in a predominantly democratic district. and that message from the president how he's been, you know, sowing fear about the mail system has really, really resonated with voters that i've spoken to. >> yeah. it's interesting. i only asked you that question because there's skepticism on both sides of the aisle about mail-in voting which i find interesting despite the fact it's only the president, a republican, driving home this message. you still have a lot of democrats that are skeptical. nbc's leeann caldwell, enjoying the beyonce in the background -- actually, it's not beyonce. thank you. >> reporter: thank you. >> let's go to richard lui joining us with record-smashing numbers. basically tell us about the why,

what does this mean, all this early voting and how it compares to past elections. richard, take us through it. >> and without beyonce, unfortunately, yasmin, we'll work through that as we get through the hit. the key question you asked, how they voted? we don't necessarily know, maybe the data and who voted might give us an indication. the lines are a good indication of that, right? it's blowing up in terms of the data that we have right now, as of today, as of this hour, on the 17th of october 21.3 million have voted in advance, early, right? just within the last day, 12, 14 hours, that's gone up by 2 million. 2 million in 12 or 14 hours. how does this day compare to four years ago on this very same date? well, this is the number here. 4.6 million. this is gargantuan. you take a look at the difference here. this is 4x what it was four years ago. so when we look at the energy

this year, it clearly is expressed, just in terms of the same-day numbers. now, these are some of the states that if you're a pundit, or if you just love to watch this election and early voting in general, the midwestern fi firewa firewall, back to '08 and '12, key to president obama, back as senator and then candidate obama, these are the numbers in terms of early voting. look at minnesota, almost 500%. >> wow. >> we have wisconsin over 3x. michigan, right, the jewel of swing states here, 283%. ohio, another jewel. iowa, not quite expressing the same energy. but still up 66%, compared to 2016. all right. now, here's some of the other key swing states in early voting. pennsylvania, we said earlier on our air that pennsylvania is the keystone in this election. if it is here, yasmin, 535% up.

this is the big kahuna. it is winning right now in terms of early voting jumps. north carolina, 302%. as you know it's always been a close state. florida certainly down to the 0.x decimal point. who is ahead in terms of getting their voters out? well, democrats right now, as of, again, within the last 24 hours, 50% of those votes are democrats. early voting. republicans, 32%. and other, 15%. when you compare this to 2016, it really does open your eyes a bit because 2016 we're seeing democrats 42%. we're seeing republicans, 32%. versus 35%. so down for republicans and up for democrats. now, this is the difference, you'll probably notice right here, this is simple math. 8% difference, right? >> right. >> but let's clear that and look at this vertically. this is the big difference, i

think, when you're taking a look at the early voting numbers. this is an 18% difference. here, 7%. this is a huge advantage for democrats in terms of getting out their voters compared to 2016, what that means here, yasmin, is that democrats can focus on other, the swing voters, the independents. that is so key to them. of course, republicans now, they have to look at least two fronts, both the early voting as well as this other space to swing it. >> i will say it, just looking at the numbers as we've seen back in 2016, you certainly have some democrats voting for donald trump and some republicans that are voting for joe biden as well. >> that's true. >> what is this driven by, richard? is it driven by new voters? what do we know about the surge? >> another one of those panaceas, right? the new voters, who they're getting and how early they'll come out, yasmin. 8% of those who voted early have never voted before.

one point you want to look at, in 2016, those who have never voted before at the end of of that election year, when you counted everything up that was 15. so it's down right now. maybe energy for folks getting out early in early voting, but when it comes to the new voters or never voted before, that energy's not showing up. when you look at voted by mail, those lines are a really good indication. those lines are only 18% of the vote. so, when we look at the other side of this, 82% all of these secretaries of state in trying to get their infrastructure together to handle this on day of, we're going to see more figurative long lines as we try to wait for data. i know you've been talking about how long we will have to wait on election day, the electorate should be ready for that. let's look at the black vote. black vote 10% right now. that's in sync with the

electorate. last yearly it was 8%. good indicator if you're a democrat and looking at potential voters that will go your way. >> richard lui, he's going to be manning the boards for us through edelection day. i'm going to talk to an election analyst on questions you may have when it comes to challenging votes including the fate of mail-in votes. and can electors simply flip their vote for the big vote? that is coming up in the 4:00 p.m. hour. still ahead, though, pandemic problem areas, covid-19 spikes in the u.s. and abroad spark new restrictions as leaders scramble to get a handle on the health care crisis. >> utah is now facing its most dire episode yet in this epidemic. plus, to mask or not to mask? why is that still a question? why? and why the president is still questioning their effectiveness

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welcome back. strict new rules come in effect for millions across europe as it faces a surge in covid cases. italy showing the highest number of cases in a day since covid began with 1,000 testing positive on friday. and france, declared a state of emergency as cases there continue to surge. parts of the country will be under curfew from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. starting today for at least four weeks. as of this week, number of new coronavirus infections in europe has overtaken the united states. nbc's matt bradley is joining from us paris. matt, good to talk to you this afternoon. appreciate you joining us with the story. talks through exactly what's happening on the ground there, especially with the tough

restrictions put in place there in paris. >> reporter: yeah, you can see we're about a half hour into this curfew, you probably haven't seen the champs-elysees this empty since a couple months ago, in spring. this is the sequel. like any sequel, it's a little weaker. so this is a curfew, not a lockdown. in other words, it starts at 9:00 p.m. which is a couple minutes ago and lasts until 6:00 a.m. it's not an all-out lock down. just like in the spring, you could be fined $160 if you're seen walking around the streets of paris and other major cities, including lyon here in france. the second wave have been going on for six weeks now. and the french authorities have only just managed to ramp-up their assault on this deese. it was only a couple months ago that french president emmanuel

macron again, at the height of the crisis said we are at war with this virus, and now he's saying, we have to live with the virus. so, that's what they're doing. this is a half measure. they're not shutting down schools, they're not shutting down businesses at the end of the day, they're saying from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., you have to stay home. that means all bars, restaurants, all closed under penalty of law. it's all because what's happening now isn't just this increase in cases in the last couple of weeks, it's an increase in hospitalizations. the number of people in icus. and gradually, we've come to -- we understand that the number of deaths are going to increase as well for a lot of french people, these measures as much of a half measure as they are, as light as they are, they're still very frustrating. because, again, we haven't seen the deaths necessarily increasing. but we have started to see hospitalizations. and very severe cases that will very likely lead to an increase in deaths. we have started to see that so that's very concerning for

french authorities but again, those images you saw a couple months ago with people singing on their balconies and blowing each other kisses, that street decor just in here anymore, yasmin. people are not happy with this. they're frustrated. they don't want to go back into a curfew, even if it's not a loukdown. there's a lot of people here who are worried that this curfew which is going to last four weeks could be a lockdown soon. >> it is frustrating and tiresome but it is needed as numbers spike. nbc's matt bradley, thank you. despite the numbers roughly seven months into this pandemic, the president is still taking issue with the effectiveness of wearing a mask. watch this. >> but as far as the mask is concerned, i'm good with masks. i'm okay with masks. i tell people to wear masks but just the other day they came out with a statement that 85% of

people that wear masks catch it -- >> they didn't say -- i know that study - that's what i heard. >> when the president didn't wear a mask or makes fun of folks like me when i was wearing the mask for a long time, then people say, well, it must not be that important. >> we need to be telling people that there is no downside to wearing masks. i was led to believe that all of the people i was interacting with at the white house had been tested, and it gave you a false sense of security. and it was a mistake. >> joining me now is msnbc medical contributor and fellow at the brookings institute dr. patel. it's astonishing that chris christie came forward and said we should have been wearing masks. it took him a week in the icu, getting that antibody cocktail, getting that remdesivir, seeing his life flash before him in order to say something like that. the president who also had a

positive covid test, who also went into the hospital still saying there's a study out there by the cdc saying 85% of folks who wear masks still get covid. that is completely false. can you actually tell us what that study says? >> yeah, yasmin, you're spot-on, it's absolutely false. the study was -- the cdc actually was looking at comparisons between two groups of people. people approximately 160 people who did get the coronavirus. and about 160 people who did not. and the study was intended to show the differences between the two groups, not about the math. but what were the differences. a key difference that the studies found and commented on that twice as many people who got covid were likely to have been in a bar or restaurant or kind of a small setting where there were multiple people. and all commented on with mask wearing, both groups wore masks. that was it. it was never an intentional study to look at the effectiveness of masks.

in fact, it went one step further, yasmin, saying like you and i expect, eating a meal inside of a restaurant, we take offer our masks to eat. and it's not clear if that contributed to possible exposure. again, a lot of misinformation. and what we do have are an overwhelming number of studies that show, when you do wear masks and in states where we have mask mandates previously that you can reduce transmission of the virus by as much as half. again, a key point that people are forgetting is that masks do protect you and other people around you. and i think that, again, as a physician, what's the harm in wearing a mask? i think that's where we have to really be critical. what is the downside of wearing a mask? and i have yet to have anybody really give me an informed response to that. >> can we talk about herd immunity here, right? it seems that the white house is warming up to this idea of herd immunity. dr. fauci has essentially said it will lead to thousands upon thousands of people dying if we go with herd immunity.

sweden took up herd immunity when this first thing started. here's a quote from the journal of medical medical association about sweden. it says sweden and the united states essentially make up a category of two. they're the only countries with high overall mortality rates. it didn't work in sweden. and yet it seems like -- >> right. >> and yet it seems like the white house is continuing to warm up to this idea of herd immunity. what do you make of this? >> yes, herd immunity, sweden as you mentioned talked about it. uk, if you remember, yasmin, flirted with that idea. and it was quickly diminished. because as you said in that graphic, people have to -- to the community, as a recap, herd immunity really references that a significant number of people in a population would have to get the virus in order to get, quote, get immunity. along with that comes, yasmin, death and as you saw on the graph, more infections. herd immunity as a concept for a

country does not work. leads to higher cases and higher deaths and irresponsible thinking. >> dr. kavita patel, thank you. my mom as dr. patel knows is currently battling coronavirus, overseas. she's doing well. don't worry, she's doing stable, dr. patel, because she's been my guiding light and has allowed me to text her constantly when i know you're a very busy woman. dr. patel, i thank you very much. i hope you all have someone to lean on who are affected with covid have someone to lean on like i have with dr. patel. thank you. we'll be right back, everybody.

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to care for your intimate skin. are you still here? kind to skin. protects like tena. welcome back. during this week's town hall on nbc, the president once again dodged questions about the false conspiracy fuelling the qanon movement, claiming he knows nothing about it. >> i know nothing about qanon --

>> i just told you -- >> well, you told me, but what you tell me doesn't necessarily make it fact. what i do hear about it, they are strongly against pedophilia, i agree with that. i do agree with that. >> but they're not a satanic pedophile -- >> i don't know that. >> you don't know that? >> so, the president's refusal to denounce the far right has bolstered its confidence. calling it the biggest pitchfork i've ever seen, that is according to "the washington post." and even more conspiracy theories attacking his perceived enemies and harsh rhetoric to create fears of a fraudulent election. as a result, concern of political violence is on the rise. and "the new york times" report the plot to kidnap the michigan governor is just the latest. one of the authors of that piece, katie bennett, reporter for "the new york times."

katie, thanks for joining us on it. appreciate it. what is the impact of the president refusing to disavow qanon? >> it's fuelling conspiracy theories, it's fuelling this idea that there is a shoutout in this world that is feeding off of children but more importantly, it's feeding conspiracies that makes it difficult to trust people on social media. he's also a disinformation machine. and russia in kind also with the election. >> i want to talk about possible election-related problems. and how folks are preparing around this country for what they perceive could feasibly be a violent breakout, either leading up to this election or after the election. what are you hearing, especially from law enforcement officials in their preparedness to deal with something like this? >> sure. law enforcement officials are saying that they are preparing for all of the things they

usually prepare for in an election, whether it's voter engagement or voter fraud. but they're also preparing for violence and cyber frustrations on voting and manage that they're ramping up concern for, for sure. >> on many occasions, president trump has brought up that he feels that people don't ask him questions or only questions on group like bugala boys. you say this, months of protests are sometimes turned to looting and arson and mr. mallley said there are armed extremists on the left but he emphasized the message came from the right, including the shooting death of two people during protests in

kenosha, wisconsin. the violence very clearly tilts towards the responsibility of president trump. and we have heard from even the fbi director as well who has said, on many occasions that in fact the majority of threats, that he is hearing is coming from the extreme right. >> yes. this is correct. but one of the reasons why we see an extreme right as threat is in part because the president refuses to acknowledge that they are a threat, ironically. and also because he has said things publicly that has led the far right and led militias to believe that they should be doing things like going to the polls. that they should be policing protesters. that it's okay to show up to these public events armed. of course, unleashing that force, unleashing what feels like a shadow and unavoided and unknown, you know, you know, like a pseudo law enforcement people in public places, we also

don't know what will come of that. that's just one of the reasons why. >> whether i let you go, i just want to leave folks with this. an alarming spike in sales of guns around this country, according to the brookings institution. estimating that almost 3 million more firearms have been sold since march. katie benner, thank you so much. great to talk to you. still ahead, everybody -- ♪ money money money ♪ money money those are the days, right? the president lives up to his onetime theme song as the national debt soars to record numbers under his administration. what the surge in spending and the silence from the gop means when the future as millions of americans wait for relief. we'll be right back. knowing we're prepared for tomorrow. wow, do you think you overdid it maybe?

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for bathroom odors that linger try febreze small spaces. just press firmly and it continuously eliminates odors in the air and on soft surfaces. for 45 days. welcome back. another record level has been set by the u.s. budget deficit. the treshtry department says it's surpassed $3.1 trillion this year alone. a lot of that is driven by coronavirus spending but you haven't heard the same criminal from republican deficit hawks when president obama was battling a deficit crisis. alston goolsbee is an adviser to

presidential candidate joe biden. it's interesting that we're having this conversation under a republican president because you would expect a cacophony of voices from the republican side, basically freaking out that we've surpassed this mile marker here. yet you're not hearing much of that. >> yeah, you don't hear boo. we went through the obama administration with the republicans dead set on stopping the president's mandate on what he wanted to do on the grounds of, we can't afford it. as soon as donald trump got in office they passed a $2 trillion tax cut. we had record level deficits before covid. now covid's made it even worse. if the republicans are planning to try to stop a joe biden administration from doing what he wants to do because of the deficit, i kind of think the democrats have already seen that song before and they're not going to be having it this time.

>> here's the thing, you make an interesting point that this is happening even before covid, because the president would consistently point to the fact that they gave relief to americans, and the economy was on track before covid. that being said, if we look back to 2016, i would to play for you sound of the president back then speaking to bob woodward. it's not sound, actually. here's the conversation we have that the president had with bob word wa woodward talking about the deficit. he's essentially saying he was going to wipe the deficit clean. and in fact he's done the exact opposite. >> he did more than say he would wipe out the deficit. he said he would get rid of all debt in the united states, he said he was the king of debt so he knew what to do. he's done totally the opposite, in a way that was utterly predictable.

i think the more interesting thing is how do the republicans in the senate rationalize voting for multitrillion dollar tax cuts that were not paid for, and say that was fine, and then if a democratic administration comes in, they're going to say, oh, the deficit is unbearable, we have to address it. >> so here's the thing, right? as i mentioned earlier, this cacophony of voices, we've heard a little bit from mitch mcconnell as of late. there's this idea that mitch mcconnell is kind of stepping away from the president, he doesn't seem on board with more relief for americans because maybe he's worried that this president isn't necessarily going to get reelected. and i'm wondering how you feel about this, if in fact he wants to separate himself now so that he can look back and say, i wasn't for expanding the deficit, it was the democrats who wanted more relief for americans during covid times and in fact i didn't want to provide more relief because i saw our deficit go through the roof.

>> look, i'm sure you're right, he is going to try to say that. i think covid is a hopefully temporary phenomenon not unlike a war. the rescue and relief package should be deficit financed. you shouldn't try to raise taxes in the same year you're trying to provide that relief. but like i say, i think the gig is up a little bit. the republicans just did this. all of us were there watching when they turned on president obama, and i don't think they'll get away with it a second time. >> we have the federal reserve chair jay powell who has said the country needs stimulus, and we've seen that with so many families that are suffering and they need more of it, as the fed chair has said. alston goolsbee, thank you so much. great to talk with you.

do not worry. i will be fine for telling the truth. >> the first time i felt threatened was just after alex's testimony. >> after the break, we'll hear from rachel vindman about the ad and her family's experience since her husband's testimony. plus as huge crowds take to the streets for the women's march, how the pandemic has amplified some of the struggles women are facing three years into the "me too" movement. we'll be right back. everyone does -- right up here. it happens to all of us. we buy a new home, and we turn into our parents. what i do is help new homeowners overcome this. what is that, an adjustable spanner? good choice, steve. okay, don't forget you're not assisting him. you hired him. if you have nowhere to sit, you have too many. who else reads books about submarines? my dad. yeah. oh, those are -- progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. look at that.

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